For today’s babysitting adventure, let’s throw in two more living, breathing, 85 pound animals to look after along with the baby. Meet my nephew’s furry brothers, Hunter and Maxwell (a.k.a. h&m). They are two energetic, drool behemoths, just like my nephew. Now, taking the baby and the dogs to the park is no small feat. It should actually be an Olympic sport, complete with uphill climbs, stroller pushing, ball throwing, poop grabbing, and baby swinging.

Taking the baby and dogs to the park is harder than it looks. I don’t know how my sis-in-law does it. She likes to go hiking with the baby in a backpack (see exhibit D) and even runs for miles with a baby stroller and two large animals in tow. MADNESS. I had a hard enough time trying to maneuver the stroller without the assistance of h&m trying to mark everything with their pee (they always have to pee together, often resulting on them inadvertently peeing on one another). #problemchildren.

I shouldn’t be that surprised though. My brother and sis-in-law are one of those crazy athletic, outdoorsy types whose ideal vacation is hiking 90+ miles in Mt. Rainier (this is an actual trip). In fact, they are going next week (see map). And guess who is on munchkin duty all next weekend? Yours truly. I guess I could use more practice in the poop grabbing department anyway. Btw, I’m now accepting applications for babysitting assistants…